Return to Earth
by conspicuously-empty
Summary: This is Team Machine in Space. Commander Shaw doesn't like the Mission Specialists on her flight. According to someone there are not enough Space AUs out there (pun intended).
1. Chapter 1

"Control? The delay, how long will it be?" Commander Shaw couldn't help but roll her eyes. Their launch had been postponed twice in the last month and was aborted the week before during preparations. Shaw had been in the middle of putting on her gloves when they were given the news. The close-out crew had groaned and undone all the belts and locks. Shaw forced herself to not think about that. She realized she was working her jaw muscles and tried to relax. Her patience was running out. John Reese, her pilot, four mission specialists, and her were buckled into their seats, had been for 3 hours. Their launch window was closing. She loathed being stuck in an idle shuttle. "Houston Flight is no-go. We will hold for 5 more minutes," came the answer. Shaw heard a chuckle from one of her passengers. The one she disliked the most. Mission Specialist Samantha Groves, Root, as everyone called her, had been the reason for a billion eye rolls since their first meeting. She wished the coms weren't open, she never caught a break from Root.

Shaw sighed audibly. Take-off better be happening soon. Reese turned in his seat, as far as the tight restraints allowed it, and she knew he was giving her a look. She knew what he was thinking without seeing his face. He was as impatient as she was but hid it well. Finally Control gave the "All systems go. We got T minus 10 minutes." The corner of Shaw's mouth twitched, soon the powerful engines they were strapped to would come to life and bring her to 17,300 mph. Transmissions were hurried now. Instructions and acknowledgments went back and forth between the flight deck and Control.

"Final test of flight control surfaces started."

"Purge of the main engines concluded."

"O2 flow initiated."

"Caution and warning memory cleared?" Shaw cleared the memory and responded, "Affirmative."

"We got proper flight pressure in tanks." While control went through the final parts of the launch protocol Shaw compared the information listed to the ones on her monitors. And confirmed when prompted. Reese nodded along with every identical number displayed on their screens. Flight Engineer Ellen Lewis confirmed the data as it was read to her. Finally Finch addressed the entire crew. "T minus 30 seconds. We got auto sequence start," a small pause and he added "Don't break her, Shaw." With a full on smirk on her face Shaw leaned back in her seat. The deafening roar of the engines and strong vibrations caused small butterflies in Shaw's stomach. She couldn't help but smirk as the gravitational forces pressed her into her seat. Traveling with 2,933 mph definitely got her heart pumping. As they kept picking up speed her grin widened. One of the MS was breathing heavily, not being used to the exertion. One MS was humming a song. Despite the incredibly loud noises of the engines a very distinct and annoying song could be heard over the com. Shaw wished Root stopped humming "Major Tom".

Two minutes into their intense ride in the roaring,rattling and vibrating shuttle, a jolt went through the shuttle shaking its passengers as the rocket boosters were separated with a loud flash bang, shutting Root up. For now. "Booster separation confirmed." Reese started to copy data from Control and Lewis, who was called "H", read them back to them. Shaw liked not having to do that. "Negative return at 6200 mph." With every mile gained, with every mile between her and earth a weight was lifted off of Shaw. Here she was pressed into her seat by three time gravitational force and she felt great. She would deny if asked, but the time she got to spend in space was the time she was most attuned to her feelings, the few ones she had. At 355,000 feet Shaw rolled the shuttle into heads up position. Shaw blew the connecting nuts and steered clear from the disengaged external tank. Eight minutes after take-off they reached zero G and were officially in space.


	2. Chapter 2

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Officers and Doctors, please have a seat." Harold Finch pointed at the soft and comfortable looking leather seats set around an oak table in one of the spacious NASA conference rooms. Shaw scanned her surroundings. John Reese, who had been her pilot on previous missions gave her a short nod and headed for the coffee maker in the corner. Before he could reach it Finch stopped him. "Mr. Fusco will be here shortly and bring beverages. Please have a seat." A half formed smile appeared briefly on Finch's face, betraying his nervousness. Shaw knew he didn't enjoy being the center of attention, so briefings like this were tough on him. Shaw waited for the others in the room to settle. It gave her time to observe them. A rather big man let himself fall in the chair nearest to him, leaned back and crossed his arms. Shaw's eyebrows twitched when she noticed his impressive biceps. Reese pulled out a chair and positioned himself so he could watch the door and Finch at the same time. A habit he had picked up in the service. Three more people entered the room. A pair of twins with curly hair, they looked puny in comparison to Reese or the bulky man, and a brown haired woman. She shut the door, gave Shaw an appraising look and sat down. Finch looked up. "Oh great, we are all here. Let's get started." Apparently he didn't want to wait for coffee and tea.

"Welcome to the briefing for STS-136. First let me introduce the team." Finch stood up as straight as he could. Shaw noticed him wince when he moved. Obviously his back was bothering him today. He pointed at one person after the other introducing them. Starting with "Mr. John Reese, he is our pilot and has successfully flown four previous missions. We stole him away from the Airforce. And if I may add, I'm glad we did." With a warm welcoming smile Finch moved on to the next person. "Sitting next to Mr. Reese is Doctor Bailey Lewis. Doctor Lewis specializes in psychology. Because our agency, as well as the Europeans, deem it important to check on our long term astronauts on the station, Dr. Lewis will not return with you but remain on the ISS. Which makes room on the shuttle for Mr. Akiyama, who will be returning after four month on the station." Finch greeted the woman who looked just like the doctor. "Allow me to introduce Ms. Ellen Lewis – before anyone asks, yes she and Dr. Lewis are twins. Ms. Lewis is among other professions a renowned mathematician and will also be 136's flight engineer. Ms. Lewis and Ms. Samantha Groves" Finch pointed at the cocky brunette, "will run software diagnostics and updates on the shuttle, the ISS and Hubble. While Mr. Guillaume De Backer, an astronaut with the ESA and this mission's payload specialist, will run maintenance on Canadarm2- " Ms. Groves' snickering interrupted Finch. He blinked once in irritation and continued "and Hubble as well." Finch turned to Shaw. She could tell that he was glad to be half way through the briefing. She gave him a brief smile hoping to convey that he was doing really good. So far. He returned it. "Last but not least. "Commander Sameen Shaw, who likes to be called by her last name, will be leading the mission."

Shaw straightened in her chair, she wanted to get to the important parts. "What's the schedule?" All eyes turned to her and then back to Finch, who pressed his lips together before replying. "We're aiming for launch at the end of June. That's the tentative plan, of course. Ms. Groves-" again Ms. Groves interrupted. "Please call me Root." Finch's eyes focused on his notes for a moment very likely to remain calm and gather his thoughts. "Ms. Groves and Dr. Lewis have to undergo further training for working in a zero G environment, and the team as a whole needs extensive preparations. Five months should suffice." Shaw snickered on the inside. Finch rarely used people's nicknames. "Root" probably didn't know that, judging from her face, she didn't like being called by her given name. Finch always stuck to proper etiquette, with Shaw and Reese as well, despite having known them for over four years. The only way people knew if he liked them was if he told them about his injury.

The door opened an in came, slightly out of breath, a short man with curly hair. His face displayed a foul mood and he carelessly dropped a cup holder with eight Starbucks cups onto the table. Teabag tags hanging from three of the cups swung back and forth. Foam splashed from a hole in the lid of one of the other cups. Shaw remained unfazed by Fusco's demeanor. The others didn't. Their reactions told Shaw a lot about them. The Belgian seemed to not care. He already scanned the cups for his name. The twins reacted the strongest. The doctor studied Fusco with a tilted head. The second Lewis rushed forward to prevent any potential spill. Finch's patience was spread thin. Reese, unsurprisingly, was highly amused. Groves, well, Root, however wasn't paying Fusco or his antics any attention. She watched Shaw. When their eyes met Root grinned. Shaw rolled her eyes. Time to get back to business, she thought. Shaw's voice sounded almost bored when she asked, "So, Finch, we fly to Hubble, repair it, stop by ISS, drop off the good doc," she pointed toward the twins who were carefully checking the lids on their teas. "and then fly back with our Japanese colleague?" Finch nodded along with every step she listed while he wiped up Fusco's mess. The man in question had grabbed a cup, and huffed when he fell into one of the seats at the far end of the table. "That's not quite the right order, Ms. Shaw."

Shaw's eyebrows shot up. "You are to stop at the ISS before continuing your journey to Hubble," he explained. Ms. Lewis spoke up. "Wouldn't it be smarter to do Hubble first and then descent to ISS? We'd need less fuel and would save quite some time." Finch smiled. "Yes, it would be smarter indeed. Mr. De Backer and I have discussed this at length. As our payload specialist to this mission he voiced his opinion on both options. Making your way from the station to the telescope is a bit more complicated and time consuming than following a direct trajectory. Yet, the cargo you will be transporting to the station would be a hindrance during the work you have to perform on Hubble." Ms. Lewis frown remained but she nodded in understanding. De Backer began to clarify that they'd be taking food, mail, various supplies and replacement parts for Canadarm2 to the ISS. The latter being too cumbersome to work around when they reeled in the telescope. His voice was a pleasant baritone and he spoke with a thick French and German accent. He had a calm about him. Shaw could see herself liking him. After he was done everybody agreed that it made more sense to stop at the station first. "Mr. Akiyama will assist me with the repairs to Hubble's structure, so it makes sense to have him on board." He smiled and added "Oh, and people usually call me Bear."


End file.
